Extra weight in men is linked to a range of health issues, and a new report is indicating that we may be risking our bone wellness if we have too much fat around our middles. The medical research by the Harvard Medical School suggests we could do with losing belly fat if we’re male and want to strengthen our bones.
Losing strength
Being overweight can put extra strain on our hearts and could make it more likely that we suffer from diabetes, strokes and cardiac arrests. Now a study shows that as men we could also be putting our bones at risk. Until recently, the bone strength of larger men was not believed to be significantly affected by weight, but the medical school research links a specific kind of fat with weaker bones. Brittle bones are commonly linked with the wellbeing of women as their bones are lighter and hormone changes lead to quicker reductions in bone mineral density (BMD). The new research shows that we may have to pay close attention to our diets and lifestyle whether we’re male or female.
Lose the fat
Clinicians decided to investigate the effects different kinds of fat can have on our skeletons. Subcutaneous fat is the layer just beneath the skin, but the layers that interested the researchers are found under our muscles and are called visceral fat, which is found around the belly in men. As well as measuring fat levels, the researchers calculated the participants’ body mass index (BMI).
This gives an idea of our size but does not reveal fat levels. As well as pooling these figures, clinicians from the medical school used engineering techniques to establish how strong the bones of the men were. They found that men with more belly fat had weaker bones as they proved to be less flexible and were unable to cope with the same loads that slimmer men could handle. Those who had more muscle were also found to have stronger bones. The results show that if we let fat build up around our middle, then we may be putting ourselves at risk of osteoporosis later in life.
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